eReady and eAble

If you have ever had a book published by a mainstream publisher you will know that the publishing house generally takes care of most things in regards to polishing your manuscript and preparing it for public consumption. Depending on the publisher in question, they may have performed a better or worse job on any, or all, of the tasks that contribute to the success or failure of your masterpiece.

If you have been fortunate enough to secure a contract with one of the Big Six, the ePublishing agenda will probably be tied in with the digital rights of your contract. If you have not already secured a contract with one of the Big Six your chances of being taken on by any of them now are probably more remote than ever. The Big Six are of course sticking with their tried and proven, established, best-selling authors, taking fewer and fewer chances on unproven newcomers. Continue reading “eReady and eAble”

Meet the Sisters Behind BEAUTeBOOK

BEAUTeBOOKMaria and Victoria are the sisters who run BEAUTeBOOK, a professional cover-design and book formatting business.

Maria Novillo Saravia is a Graphic Designer from FAECC, with more than 15 years of experience in branding and corporate identity. Working as freelancer with clients from all around the world, she has a valuable multi-cultural background. In January 2013, she partnered with her sister Victoria and founded BEAUTeBOOK, where she is in charge of the artistic direction. Most of the time she works from home, with her baby Francisca on her lap.

Victoria Novillo Saravia is an Ind. Engineer from ITBA, with more than 15 years of experience in business development. She is in charge of Marketing and IT at BEAUTeBOOK. Fluent in French and Spanish, she is an avid reader, amateur writer and author of the award winning children’s book The Terrible Neck Pain Of Sunny The Sunflower. Continue reading “Meet the Sisters Behind BEAUTeBOOK”

Paying it Forward Into the New Year

This time last year I was flailing around, trying everything I could think of to find readers for my newly self-published novel. I did the usual Facebook events and .99 cent sales and joined every online group I could find. I was active in Amazon Author Discussion boards, Kindleboards, Yahoo groups, and anywhere else I thought readers might be. The reviews I was receiving on the book were really positive but I couldn’t reach that next level in terms of finding more readers. My background is sales and marketing and I know my way around the internet, but even with all my efforts I couldn’t hit the big numbers that other Indie authors were achieving. In the first six weeks I sold about two hundred books but I knew many of those were friends and family, and other authors who were kind enough to buy it and support me. I was happy to get my work out there but I wanted to find random readers who didn’t know me, and when I checked the Kindleboard monthly listings and saw there were Indie authors selling thousands of ebooks a month I knew that either I had a book that wasn’t going to sell or I was doing something wrong. So, I contacted Robert Bidinotto, and that’s when I learned about “paying it forward”. Continue reading “Paying it Forward Into the New Year”

My Way Or the Highway!

A guest post
by Dick Waters

My way or the highway! You’ve most likely heard that expression, but hopefully you will see that my way is the highway.  Have you ever learned from someone else’s mistake? I have, and I’ve also learned from my own. I’m writing this to help at least one person not make the same mistake I did publishing my first novel.

As I write this I think of Route 66; a great road for a scenic drive, but not the one to take to get where you’re going in an expeditious manner. Super highways were built to provide a more direct route. Publishing is experiencing the same scenario – ‘traditional publishing’ versus ‘independent publishing,’ or self publishing. Continue reading “My Way Or the Highway!”